By RONDA GRAFF

I have often referenced an old cartoon of Family Circus - yes, I’m dating myself - that focused

on the organized chaos of family life.

A framed comic given to me by my late mother-in-law, Dolores Graff, was of an elderly woman

trying to be encouraging to a young mother by saying “Enjoy these years, dear. They go by so

fast.” Meanwhile, the mother, Thel, is try to manage multiple kids (Billy, Dolly, Jeffy, and baby

P.J.) as they are pulling items off shelves, crying, wandering off or all of the above. As the

mother of seven, I completely related to the exhausted and weary mother. But as that stage of

life me and my family nears the end, I’m relating more and more to the older woman offering up

sage but maybe ill-timed advice.

The point of the cartoon was to show the contrast between the older woman's nostalgic wisdom

and the overwhelming, messy reality of the present moment. I always took it to mean that the

days are long but the years fly by. Or it could reference the amnesia that sets in, making you

forget as you age how much work small children are and how young mothers especially are just

trying to get through the day.

But as my youngest child enters his last year of high school, yet another meaning can be

derived from the classic scene: Enjoy and - perhaps more importantly - recognize all the “lasts”

that go along with the years whizzing by.

I have found myself more sentimental this year and it has to do with a lot of the “lasts” that we

are going through. Fortunately, these are “lasts” that we know are coming.

Often, we don’t even recognize the “lasts" in our lives. The last time you talked to your mom

before she passed. The last time you had Christmas in your childhood home before your

parents sold the house. The last time you played dodgeball with your elementary school friends.

The last time you read to your child because they were all-to-soon able to read on their own.

It is only years later that you realize that was the last time something happened.

So as these “lasts” start to pile up this year, I am more aware that they are taking place.

For example, it was the “last” first day of school and I did manage to get a first day of school

picture. Looking back over the first-day pictures, it was a bit melancholy to see the number of

siblings dwindle every year. My son grudgingly agreed to a first-day picture but snagged a cat

wandering by to be by his side.

We have already gone through a couple other “lasts” already this year including the school

physical, last homecoming dance, the last first day of fall sports practice - everything we’ve

taken for granted the past two dozen years.

Yet there also have been “firsts” to celebrate recently. The first time marching on the field in the

flag corp., the first acceptance letter to college, the first time waking up without mom hollering to

get out of bed. And it is just as important to recognize and celebrate these “firsts” that are

happening, especially as they become out-weighed by the “lasts.”.

I know there will be many more “lasts” over the next year, from the last piano recital, to the last

senior night or to the last swim meet with my child as a participant after 26 years and countless

meets.

But I’m thankful for all these “firsts” and “lasts” because many people don’t get these

opportunities. We only recognize it later that these years were special and unique and that they

did fly by. I guess I have nearly switched over to the point-of-view of the old woman offering

advice to enjoy this time of life, although I still sympathize with that mother with a child hanging

on each limb, wondering when it will be the “last” time. My amnesia hasn’t quite kicked in from

that phase of life.